Characteristics of American Democratic Parties and Political Parties

Characteristics and differences between American Democratic Party and * * * Party

After a long period of development and struggle, the Democratic Party of the United States has formed its own distinctive features. These different characteristics determine the differences between the internal and external policies of the two parties and are the basis and starting point for the two parties to formulate their China policies.

(A) the characteristics of democratic parties

After a long period of evolution and development, the Democratic Party of the United States has formed its own unique characteristics, which is an important manifestation that distinguishes it from other political parties. Specifically, the characteristics of the Democratic Party mainly include the following aspects.

First of all, conceptually, it is liberal. The Democratic Party advocates people's sovereignty, social justice and the protection of human rights and minority rights. People's sovereignty means that all power comes from the people and the people are the masters of the country. This idea originated from the French thinker Rousseau. People's sovereignty is manifested in the United States and has different orientations in different times. In Jefferson's time, people's sovereignty was manifested in limiting the power of the government. (1) in the era of populism (1896- 1948), people's sovereignty refers to economic democracy and opposes the oppression of the people by capitalists and financiers; In today's era, Democrats define people's sovereignty as pluralistic democracy and encourage people regardless of race, belief and gender to participate in political life, which shows that the Democratic Party has changed from a minority party to a majority party. It is precisely because of this position of the majority party that the Democratic Party pays more attention to the interests of the disadvantaged groups. In addition to protecting the interests of the big bourgeoisie, the Democratic Party pays more attention to supporting the civil rights of blacks, supporting women's right to choose, and protecting the rights of homosexuals, the disabled and the elderly, which makes the Democratic Party pay more attention to the interests of China's minority groups and win their trust. This way of representing the interests of the disadvantaged groups also makes the Democratic Party advocate social justice and egalitarianism. With the development of capitalist society, the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider and wider, and the Democratic Party is paying more and more attention to polarization, advocating government intervention in wealth redistribution.

Secondly, the composition of voters in the Democratic Party. The core voters of the Democratic Party are mainly immigrants, Catholics, Jews, blacks and trade union members. Compared with the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party is not a traditional conservative party, so it is more inclusive. * * and the party's traditional xenophobia make immigrants, Catholics and Jews join the Democratic Party. At the same time, the democratic party's support for black people's civil rights and affirmative action in favor of black people have gradually integrated black people into mainstream politics and won their support. The Democratic Party has always been a political party of trade unions, and trade unions have always been a solid political foundation of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party sympathizes with the opinions of the trade unions and supports their interests. At the same time, trade unions provide activities and election funds to the Democratic Party, which has become a firm and core component of the Democratic Party.

Third, the interest groups and concerns of the Democratic Party are more and more extensive. Interest groups are social organizations that play an important role in American politics. They are inextricably linked with political parties: on the one hand, they are independent of each other and do not interfere with each other; On the other hand, they tend to a certain political party on interests, ideology or other issues, and rely on political parties to lobby the government and Congress. Interest groups inclined to the Democratic Party belong to liberals and can be roughly divided into the following categories: interest groups based on economic interests, such as AFL-CIO；; Public welfare organizations, such as the American Consumers Association; Human rights/civil rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); Feminist groups, such as the National Women's Organization (now); Minority interest groups, such as the American Jewish Committee; Environmental groups such as Sierra Club; American democratic action organization.

From the support of interest groups to the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party not only pays attention to the interests of a few people, but also advocates paying attention to social and international issues and people's survival. This representativeness makes the Democratic Party pay attention to cooperation with other countries when seeking the international status of the United States.

The characteristics of the Democratic Party determine its policy proposition, which is an important aspect that distinguishes it from * * * and the Party. This domestic characteristic also determines his views on international issues, such as paying attention to human rights, democracy and environmental protection.

(B) * * the characteristics of the party

* * * As a conservative political party in the history of the United States, the Hehe Party also has its own uniqueness in ideological opinions, voter composition and related interest groups.

In terms of ideology, * * * and the Party advocate liberal capitalism, individualism, Puritanism and authoritarianism. Giving priority to the interests of enterprises is the consistent proposition of * * * and the Party. Nowadays, the Republican Party advocates small government and supports the separation of powers between the federal government and the state government. Support individual rights, advocate relying on personal hard work to get rich, oppose the redistribution of national wealth, and oppose the welfare state; Advocate moral reform, emphasize the role of religion in social and political life, and emphasize family values; Respect law and political authority, and strictly demand order. These differences and the characteristics of other political parties also affect the tendency of * * * and party policies.

Judging from the composition of voters, the core voters of * * * and the party are Protestants, non-southern whites, upper-middle class and Native Americans. This is because * * * and the Party, as representatives of conservative political parties, are inherently xenophobic, and their policies are more biased towards local residents, big entrepreneurs and big financiers, thus cultivating the loyalty of these classes to * * * and the Party.

From the perspective of interest groups, the political parties closely related to * * * and the Party mainly include ideological political parties such as the American Conservative Union, religious groups such as the MoralMajority, groups with single issues and groups centered on economic interests. This is closely related to the voters they represent, and the tendency of interest groups is particularly prominent when * * * and the party formulate policies. In order to win campaign funds and voters, both * * and the party's internal affairs and diplomacy are biased to some extent.

(C) the differences between the two sides

Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in the United States are capitalist parties, and they agree with the ideology and some basic principles of capitalism, even in their platforms and policies. However, after careful study of the two parties, it is found that differences still exist, which lead to different solutions to specific problems between the two parties.

First of all, ideological differences. As mentioned above, the Democratic Party has always followed the tradition of liberalism, and the Democratic Party is more conservative. Liberalism advocates human rights, which is in line with the pursuit of the Democratic Party. At the same time, Democrat Roosevelt once promoted the "New Deal" and promoted contemporary liberalism to become the ideology of the Democratic Party. However, with the extreme development of liberalism, such as over-emphasis on individualism, Democrats tried to modify it, and the Clinton period was even more "middle line." However, the brand of liberalism on the Democratic Party is hard to change. * * * And the party's conservatism has the color of traditional Catholicism and the color of new religious right wing, which opposes moral decay and advocates returning to religious embrace. Especially in recent years, the rise of neo-conservatism, more and more emphasis on capitalist ideology, advocates the implementation of democracy in the world. This extremely conservative color has become a prominent label of * * * and the party. Ideological differences make the two parties consider different starting points when formulating foreign policy. The Democratic Party pays more attention to human rights and democracy, while communist party pays more attention to the propaganda of capitalist ideology.

Secondly, the differences in diplomatic thoughts. The Democratic Party and the Party representatives have different interests of voters and their own interest groups, so the group interests they safeguard are not exactly the same. The ideology of the two parties is different, which leads to their different starting points in policy formulation and policy implementation. Because * * * represents the interests of the big bourgeoisie, it is conservative, realistic in diplomatic thought, pursues unilateralism and realism, defines interests by strength, pursues practical interests, and maintains the super position of the United States in the world.

The Democratic Party pursues multilateralism and rationalism in diplomatic thought, and pays more attention to promoting the implementation of foreign policy with "soft power" and paying attention to human rights and democracy, such as Clinton's "humanitarian" intervention in Kosovo; In international affairs, actively participate in the activities of multilateral organizations, while maintaining a certain degree of opening up.

However, both the Democratic Party and the Party belong to capitalist parties and both safeguard the interests of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, their thoughts and policies will not remain unchanged, but will change with time or specific issues. At the same time, the needs of interest groups and elections, coupled with the maintenance of national interests, have similar policies on many issues.

However, it is the differences in ideology and diplomatic thoughts between the two parties that make the two parties have certain differences in formulating China policies. Although this difference seems small on the surface, it is actually a difference in thought.